Dancers and customer describe Gastonia strip club shooting

Mario Chavez

By Kevin Ellis

Published: Friday, April 11, 2014 at 08:01 AM.

A patron thrown out of Leather and Lace for getting too fresh with a dancer reportedly fired more than a dozen shots inside the Gastonia strip club before leaving, sending dancers and customers ducking for cover.

No one was injured, but police say 33-year-old Mario Chavez of Mount Holly fired 13 times the West Main Avenue club. One of the bullets flew over two pool tables before lodging in a sofa, according to police reports.

“I was afraid I wasn’t going to make it home,” said a 24-year-old dancer who said she was outside smoking with another dancer when the shooting began just before 11 p.m. Thursday.

A 24-year-old male customer said a bullet whizzed within 2 feet of him.

“The wood chips were coming out of the wall like something you see in a movie,” said the Gastonia man, who asked that his name not be used. “Everybody was diving to the floor and jumping behind something. The dancers were the ones who were really terrified.”

Chavez was booked into the Gaston County Jail under a $1 million bond early Friday morning on charges that included 18 counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, shooting into an occupied building and one count of sexual battery.

Police say club bouncers forced Chavez out of the strip club after he reached his hands inside a dancer’s underwear and slapped her on the hip.

A patron thrown out of Leather and Lace for getting too fresh with a dancer reportedly fired more than a dozen shots inside the Gastonia strip club before leaving, sending dancers and customers ducking for cover.

No one was injured, but police say 33-year-old Mario Chavez of Mount Holly fired 13 times the West Main Avenue club. One of the bullets flew over two pool tables before lodging in a sofa, according to police reports.

“I was afraid I wasn’t going to make it home,” said a 24-year-old dancer who said she was outside smoking with another dancer when the shooting began just before 11 p.m. Thursday.

A 24-year-old male customer said a bullet whizzed within 2 feet of him.

“The wood chips were coming out of the wall like something you see in a movie,” said the Gastonia man, who asked that his name not be used. “Everybody was diving to the floor and jumping behind something. The dancers were the ones who were really terrified.”

Chavez was booked into the Gaston County Jail under a $1 million bond early Friday morning on charges that included 18 counts of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill, shooting into an occupied building and one count of sexual battery.

Police say club bouncers forced Chavez out of the strip club after he reached his hands inside a dancer’s underwear and slapped her on the hip.

That dancer, a 24-year-old Bessemer City woman, said she was on stage when the shooting started.

“The music was on so we didn’t know what was going on. It was just a pop, pop, pop,” said the woman. “Everybody got down on the floor. You could see bullet holes in the wall.”

Moments before the shooting, the woman said she told the bouncer that Chavez had touched her inappropriately — a no-no at the club.

“He told the bouncer that he’d done apologized to me and the bouncer told him that I’d done gave him a warning and he was going to have to leave,” said the woman.

Chavez had been drinking but did not appear drunk, she said. The woman, who turns 25 next week, said she doesn’t recall ever having seen Chavez in the seven years she has danced at Leather and Lace.

On Thursday night, Chavez came in and received a couple of “VIP” private dances with her before the incident, she said.

The shooting only lasted a matter of seconds. The club disc jockey reportedly warned everyone to hit the floor soon after it began.

Chavez first fired four shots at the club with a .40-caliber Beretta handgun that had been in his 2004 Chevrolet pickup truck, according to police.

He continued to fire until the Beretta either jammed or ran out of ammunition, according to warrants.

Chavez then walked back to the truck, got a 9 mm Taurus handgun and fired seven more shots at the building. He fired two more shots as he drove away, according to warrants.

The dancer who accused Chavez of sexual battery described the dancers as hysterical after the shooting. Most of them put their clothes on and wanted to leave, but some did stick around, she said.

She said she started dancing at the club soon after turning 18 and can earn between $600 and $1,000 by dancing there five nights a week.

But the work also involves dealing with sometimes drunken customers charged up by watching topless dancers.

And while she’d never witnessed anything at the club like what happened Thursday night, it was a reminder there might be easier ways to make a living.

“I’ve already been considering a different kind of work,” she said. “I’m getting too old for the drama.”

You can reach Kevin Ellis at 704-869-1823 or Twitter.com/TheGazetteKevin.